Strategic Themes in Kendis help organizations translate business strategy into measurable execution using the Objectives and Key Results (OKR) framework.
With Strategic Themes, teams can:
Define strategic initiatives.
Organize objectives and key results.
Monitor delivery progress.
Visualize strategy across teams.
Generate AI-powered strategic insights.
Track progress across portfolios.
This guide explains how to create, manage, and analyze strategic themes in Kendis.
Who is this for?
Role | Usage |
RTEs / Delivery Managers | Track delivery progress and team alignment |
Product Managers | Connect backlog work with strategic objectives |
Executives | Review strategic progress and AI-driven insights |
Getting Started
Open Kendis.
Click OKR in the left sidebar.
The Themes Listing Page opens.
If no themes exist yet, you will see an empty workspace.
Click New Theme to create your first strategic initiative.
Strategic Themes Workspace Overview
The Themes Listing Page is the main workspace for managing strategic initiatives.
It allows you to:
Create new themes.
Search and filter initiatives.
Configure table columns.
Mark themes as favourites.
Manage portfolios.
Navigation Tabs
Every workspace contains three primary tabs:
Tab | Purpose |
All | Displays all active themes |
Favourites | Shows starred themes |
Portfolios | Portfolio management |
1.1 Themes Table Overview
Each row in the table contains a strategic theme.
Column | Description |
Title | Theme name (click to open details) |
Key | Unique theme identifier |
Progress | Completion percentage |
Type | Strategic category |
Time Period | Theme duration |
Teams | Teams involved |
Portfolios | Associated portfolios |
Responsible | Owner of execution |
Status | Current lifecycle state |
Hover over a row to access quick actions like add to Favourite Theme, Open Theme, or More Actions (Edit, Delete, Settings).
1.2 Creating a Strategic Theme
To create a new Strategic Theme:
Click New Theme.
Provide the following theme details.
Basic Information |
|
Title | Name of the initiative |
Short Name | Abbreviated identifier |
Short Summary | One-line description |
Description | Detailed explanation |
Associations |
|
Collections | Objective groups linked to the theme |
Teams | Teams responsible for execution |
Theme Configuration |
|
Status | Current stage |
Priority | Importance level |
Type | Strategic category |
Time Period | Theme duration |
Portfolio | Portfolio association |
Owner | Strategic owner |
Responsible | Execution owner |
Appearance
The Appearance section controls how the theme is visually displayed across the workspace.
Option | Description |
Icon | Select an icon to visually represent the theme |
Background | Choose the background color for the theme header/card |
Text Color | Select the text color for readability |
Pattern | Apply a visual pattern style |
Preview | Shows how the theme will appear before saving |
Use the preview area to confirm that the selected colors and pattern provide a clear and readable presentation.
Click Save to create the theme.
1.3 Editing a Theme
Once a theme is created, it can also be edited:
Hover over the theme row and click More > Edit, or
Open the theme detail page and click Edit Theme in the header.
The same Create Theme modal opens pre-populated with the theme's current values. Make changes and click Save.
1.4 Searching and Filtering
Search bar: Type to search across theme titles, descriptions, and owner names. Results filter in real time.
Filter controls:
Filter | Type | Description |
Responsible | User picker | Filter by assigned responsible person. Includes "Unassigned" option. |
Associations | Multi-select | Filter by linked collections |
Time Period | Time range picker | Filter by time period (supports multi-year ranges) |
A filter badge shows the count of active filters. Click Reset Filters to clear all.
1.5 Column Settings
Click the Column Settings icon to open the column visibility and ordering modal.
Toggle columns on/off with checkboxes.
Drag columns to reorder them.
Settings persist for your session.
Available columns: Title, Key, Short Summary, Progress, Type, Time Period, Teams, Portfolios, Associations, Responsible, Status, Priority.
Strategic Theme Main Dashboard
Click a theme title from the list to open its detail page, or by directly visiting /strategic-themes/theme/{key}.
The page contains several tabs that help teams manage and analyse the initiative.
Main capabilities include:
Managing objectives and key results.
Monitoring execution progress.
Viewing analytics dashboards.
Running AI analysis.
Visualising strategy structure.
2.1 Summary Tab
The Summary tab is the default view and has two sub-tabs plus a collapsible details sidebar. It provides high-level analysis of the theme.
Two AI-powered views are available.
View | Purpose |
Business Summary | Strategic business impact analysis |
Progress Analysis | Execution performance evaluation |
Click “Generate Business Summary”.
In the Progress Analysis tab, click “Generate with Charlie”.
These insights help leadership quickly understand the value and progress of the initiative.
2.2 Managing Objectives and Key Results
The List View tab displays all objectives and key results linked to the theme.
Hierarchy structure:
Theme.
└ Objective Group.
└ Objective.
└ Key Result.
This section allows you to create objectives, add key results, link backlog items, and track progress.
Creating Objectives
Before creating objectives, you must first create an Objective Group. Objective groups organise related objectives within a strategic theme.
Step 1: Create an Objective Group
Open the List View tab in the Strategic Theme workspace.
Click + Add Custom or + Add Collection.
Enter the Objective Group name.
Save the group.
Once the group is created, it will appear as a container for objectives.
Step 2: Add an Objective
Locate the objective group where you want to add the objective.
Click the + icon next to Objectives.
Enter the objective title.
Select the time period if required.
Click Save.
Step 3: Creating a Key Result
Key results measure the success of objectives.
Expand the objective.
Click + Key Result.
Enter the target metric.
Save.
For example, here is an Objective: Increase product adoption. Its Key Result will probably be to reach 10,000 active users.
Step 4: Linking Work Items
Locate the Objective or Key Result where you want to link work items.
Click the three-dot (⋯) menu next to the item.
Select Link Items.
In the linking window, search and select the relevant work items from your boards.
Confirm the selection to link the items.
2.3 Dashboard Analytics
The Dashboard tab provides visual insights into theme performance.
Available analytics include:
Theme health indicators.
Objective completion distribution.
Key result progress tracking.
Team performance metrics.
Weekly progress trends.
These insights help teams identify delays and risks early.
Important: You can switch between Health (calculated from progress vs time) and Manual Status (status set by the team).
2.4 Tree View: Strategy Visualisation
Clicking the Tree View tab opens a full-screen modal displaying the hierarchical structure of the theme.
Tree View Hierarchy Level
A colored header row shows the hierarchy levels with toggle visibility:
Theme
└ Collection
└ Objective
└ Key Result
Capabilities include:
Expand and collapse nodes.
Search strategic elements.
Zoom large structures.
Export visual diagrams.
This visualisation helps stakeholders understand relationships across strategic initiatives.
Tree View Interactions
Click a card: Opens the item detail modal
Click a count badge: Expands or collapses children
Click breadcrumb: Navigates to that level
Collection link: Opens the collection in a new tab
2.5 Progress Tracking
The Progress Tracking tab shows how the theme progresses over time.
Key metrics include:
Metric | Description |
Current Progress | Latest completion percentage |
Total Change | Progress change during the selected period |
Avg Velocity | Average progress rate |
Estimated Completion | Expected completion timeline |
Users can analyse progress across time ranges from 6 weeks to 12 weeks, 6 months, and even 1 year.
2.6 OKR Roadmap
Clicking the OKR Roadmap tab redirects to the visual OKR Roadmap view for this theme. During the redirect, a "Redirecting to roadmap view..." message appears.
The OKR Roadmap is a timeline-based visualization showing objectives and key results plotted along time periods. If no roadmap exists for this theme, one is created automatically.
Recent Updates Panel
The Recent Updates panel is a floating panel accessible from any tab via the Updates button in the top-right tab bar area. A count badge shows the number of recent updates.
Each update shows:
User avatar with initials and background color.
User name and action description.
Content of the update (for comments).
Hierarchy badges showing the context path (Theme > Collection > Objective > KR).
Timestamp (relative, e.g., "2 hours ago").
Type icon indicating the update type.
Using these capabilities together enables leadership and delivery teams to maintain alignment between business strategy and execution.
In the next guide, we will explore how Portfolios organise multiple Strategic Themes and provide a higher-level view of strategic execution across initiatives.